Kurtis van der Hill
Crewman Kurtis van der Hill was a Human UNSC enlisted sailor who was a part of the crew of the frigate St. Augustine. ''His position on the ship was unknown, but his low ranking suggests that he reported to a supervisor in one of the work locations on the ship. Van der Hill believed himself to be an excellent athlete, but his mouth would reoutinely land him in trouble. Biography Van der Hill's service aboard the ''St. Augustine would begin in 3230 as a Crewman Recruit. During his time aboard the ship, Van der Hill moved several locations around the ship, mostly due to assignment transfers. Though as a Crewman by 3232, his duties mainly included filing reports and delivering them to other departments aboard the ship. Van der Hill himself was not given extensive responsibility over these reports other than being trusted to give them to who needed them. Though as a Crewman, it was possible that he would be promoted to Petty Officer Third Class. This would make him a junior NCO and would give him the ability to be a part of one of the command staff in his department of the ship. While he would not be able to head this section, more responsibility would help his career advancement. On August 20th, 3234, Van der Hill would challenge Princess Sally Acorn to a match of basketball in the ship's gym, believing her to be physically weaker than he was. Van der Hill thought that the match would be short and would say that there would be a 'no mercy' rule on the game. In a complete shock to Van der Hill, the match went on for more than an hour which would result in Van der Hill losing by a score of 50-15 to the princess, which left him stunned beyond words. This prompted the enraged and humiliated sailor to train,and the next day, Van der Hill approached Acorn and challenged her to something different; a sport that Kurtis considered a man's sport - boxing. To his surprise, Acorn did not blink at his challenge, and chose to face him in the ring. Van der Hill was able to get his superior, Petty Officer First Class Sean O'Hannigan to referee the fight. When the match began, Van der Beck let his first punch fly fueled by nothing but his seething rage and humiliation straight into Acorn's jaw, which popped out her mouthguard. The second punch cracked her jawbone. This was the beginning of what Kurtis thought was the end. He was relentless to win back his honor and held nothing back, nearly knocking Acorn into submission while O'Hannigan watched in concern. At the beginning of the second round, Kurtis knocked Sally to the mat, where she rose three seconds later and began her counterattack. Kurtis took several hits in the second round, eventually being knocked over the turnbuckle, leading Acorn to believe that she was victorious. Van der Hill retaliated with a knockdown blow that caused O'Hannigan to rule a Technical Knockout in Kurtis' favor. Sally suffered two cracked ribs along with her injured jaw. While Kurtis may have won the fight, it seems that Acorn won the war. Upon his victory, Van der Hill was immedietely disciplined by not only O'Hannigan, but by his Lieutenant who had heard about the fight and his ferocity. Van der Hill learned that thinking with his fists and choosing to fight against a diplomat may not have been the best course of action. However, Van der Hill was later cleared of this as the fight was not only consensual, Acorn seemed glad to square off against him. Kurtis was believed to have participated in the evacuation drills of the St. Augustine some time in August. Personality Kurtis van der Hill was an extremely proud individual who was proud to be a part of the Navy and was proud to be a member of the ship's crew. His devotion to his job showed dedication and pride in what many considered a menial task. In a way, Kurtis was an embodiment of the spirit of the UNSC. He worked hard, played hard, and did it all for the flag that he served under. Though Kurtis' pride was also a shortcoming of his. Oftentimes, he acted without thinking, acting on pride and instinct alone. Van der Hill's rash decisions would cause him to act on a more primal level rather than the intelligent person that he was from time to time. His decisions would have consequences though which he was happy to take. Van der Hill was by no means stupid, but he acted unintelligently at times, probably his worst shortcoming. Had his anger issues been more in check, these would diminish. Trivia *Van der Hill is a variation of the name Vander Hill, but this was dutchified some time in his family's past. Appearances *Journal of Sally Acorn (First Appearance) **Entry 13 **Entry 14 Category:Character Category:Human Category:UNSC Category:Military